


Communication Breakdown

by GleekPlusDirectioner



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 13:45:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5458592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GleekPlusDirectioner/pseuds/GleekPlusDirectioner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Both Liam and Niall each have something important to say to the other. One thing they hadn’t counted on, was just how different those important things were.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Communication Breakdown

Blowing out a long breath, Liam clasped his hands together and pressed them against his mouth, slowly pacing the living room. He huffed out a short sigh, then ran his hands backwards through his hair, bouncing on his toes and glancing to the door. "Come on," he muttered, rubbing his sweating palms on his jeans. "Fuck, pull yourself together."

The door clicked open, Niall stepping inside. He pushed the door shut before looking up, giving Liam a half-smile. "Hey… um, I… I wanted to talk to you about something," Niall started, scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah, me too," Liam rushed out, his heart pounding.

"Oh… well, um…" Niall darted his eyes away from his boyfriend.

Trying to calm his heartrate, Liam suggested, "We could just… say it at the same time?"

Niall visibly swallowed, then nodded his head. "Yeah."

"On the count of three?" With a nod from Niall, Liam took a deep breath. "One… two… three. Will you marry me?"

"I think we should break up."

Both boys froze. Liam felt his heart drop to his feet and the blood drain from his face. "Oh…"

Niall slowly brought one hand up to his mouth. "Oh my god, Liam…" He reached for the brunette. "Li-"

"Don't." Liam staggered two steps backwards, his heart shooting up into his throat. "Don't… don't talk to me." Hands shaking horribly, Liam hurried past the blonde and up the stairs of their house, slamming the bedroom door shut.

Feeling his knees buckle, Niall sat himself down on the couch, his eyes wide. "Oh no…" He covered his mouth with both hands. "Oh no, god… Liam…" The surge of emotion that swept over him led to tears spilling over and his throat squeezing shut. "Oh no, no, no, no…" A tiny choked sob fought its way from Niall's mouth. "Oh Liam…"

 

It took a full hour before Niall could move from his spot of the couch, his face wet with tears he had been unable to control. He shakily pushed himself to his feet and slowly headed for the stairs, taking them carefully one at a time. When he finally reached the bedroom door, he took a deep breath and pushed it open as quietly as he could manage.

Liam was curled up on his side on the bed, his back to the door and his arms wrapped around a pillow. His shoulders shook slightly as he took in slow, shuddery breaths.

Wordlessly, Niall sat on the end of the bed, facing away from the older boy. "I don't know what to say," he whispered, twisting his hands together in his lap.

Liam remained silent, a few tiny sniffles and the sound of thick breathing filling the quiet.

"I had no idea," Niall continued, staring at his hands. "I didn't realise you felt so strongly about me." He blew out a heavy breath. "I'm no good for you, Liam. I don't want to tie you down, there's still so much you can do. I'll only be in the way."

A quiet sob finally left Liam's mouth. "I love you," he choked out. "You've never been in the way. I want to take you with m-me." Burying his face in the pillow, Liam whimpered, "I don't want to do any of it without y-you."

Hating himself for the fresh tears dripping into his lap, Niall scooted onto the bed and laid down, wrapping his arms around Liam from behind and burying his face in the brunette's back. "Fuck, Liam, I'm so sorry," he sobbed, his forehead pressing into Liam's spine. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

It took several long minutes before Liam finally moved a hand to grasp one of Niall's still clinging to him. "What went wrong?" he whispered.

"Me," Niall hiccupped, pressing impossibly closer to Liam's back. "Me, I went wrong. I don't want to go, Liam, I just thought… I thought-"

"Well stop thinking," Liam cut in. "Just do what you want to without thinking about it."

Niall snatched the pillow from Liam's hands and threw it aside, then forced Liam onto his back, climbing on top of the brunette and kissing him solidly. "Ask me again," he whispered.

With a tiny shake of his head, Liam mumbled, "Niall, don't…"

"Please," Niall begged, voice strangled as he squeezed his eyes shut. "Please, _please_ , ask me again."

"No, Ni-"

"I didn't get to answer you before," Niall sobbed, more tears spilling down his face.

Bringing one hand up to rub Niall's back, Liam sighed, "Not right now, okay?"

Niall sobbed again and buried his face in Liam's neck, clinging to the brunette as his whole body shook with the force of his crying.

"Ssh…" Liam hushed gently, one hand rubbing Niall's back as the other stroked his hair soothingly. "Later, babe. When we've both calmed down, yeah?"

Managing a feeble nod, Niall simply continued to cry. "I'm s-so s-orry, Li-am."

"Ssh… c'mon now, deep breaths, babe." Liam set a steady breathing pace for Niall to match, waiting until the blonde had shakily adopted it. "There we go, love." Kissing the top of Niall's head, Liam closed his eyes for a few moments. "You don't want to break up?"

"No," Niall mumbled into Liam's neck.

"Thank god," Liam breathed out. He pushed himself up to sit, resulting in Niall straddling his lap with his face still hidden under Liam's chin. "C'mon, babe, let's go get some dinner, yeah?"

Finally pulling back enough to see Liam's face, Niall nodded his head.

 

Turning off the television as _Grease_ came to an end, Liam glanced down at Niall. The blonde had stopped watching his favourite movie ten minutes ago in favour of gazing up at Liam, who was curled around him in their regular movie-watching position. "You alright, love?" Liam checked, brushing Niall's hair from his forehead.

Niall hummed in confirmation, closing his eyes as Liam's fingers rubbed against his scalp. "I'm glad we've talked everything out," he murmured, tracing a finger down the bridge of Liam's nose and over his lips and chin.

"If you'd told me earlier that you were worried I'd change my mind about us, I would've been able to talk you down from whatever anxious tree you'd climbed," Liam sighed fondly.

Snorting, Niall laughed, "Anxious tree?"

"It branches off from the thing your originally worried about into all the other little things that might happen because of the non-existent problem you've created in your head," Liam explained.

"I s'pose that makes sense," Niall shrugged with a slight chuckle.

"I've always called them that in my head," Liam added. "Whenever you started to worry about something too much, I called it you climbing an anxious tree."

Niall rolled over and buried his face in Liam's chest. "Just tell me next time that I'm climbing an anxious tree. I won't be worried for long," he giggled.

Gazing down at the younger boy adoringly, Liam leaned down to kiss the top of his blonde head. "Hey Ni?" he murmured in his ear.

"Hmm?" Niall sighed happily.

"Will you marry me?"

Slowly looking up at Liam, Niall met his boyfriend's warm brown eyes with his own teary blue ones. He shifted up the couch the tiniest bit and pressed a kiss to Liam's cheek. "Yes," he whispered into the brunette's jaw. "Yes, Liam, of course I will."


End file.
